Lament
by Jixie
Summary: Behind the scenes Team Dark fic set during ‘Heros’. Rouge learns the hard way that sometimes when you get what you want, you discover that you didn’t want it after all.


Rouge was desperately trying to justify her actions.

After the ARK incident, the CIA had given her a lengthy   
'vacation'-- for a job well done, they said-- one they actually   
expected her to spend recuperating. The president himself had   
asked her to stay away from Robotnik and anything involving  
the ARK until she was reassigned to.

As for Robotnik, he hadn't contacted her since. He certainly   
wouldn't be expecting her in his base, snooping around.

Getting into the doctors base had been easy enough, and hacking   
his was childsplay. For a brilliant scientist, Robotniks security   
systems were laughable. No wonder the hedgehog always  
bested him.

The documents she was currently copying, however, were a   
testament to Robotniks genius. They were schematics for an   
android so unique that Rouge could only just grasp the   
complexity of it. There were androids out there that closely   
mimicked living things, but nothing on this scale. Nothing.

The precise blueprints, engineering references, and technical   
information may have gone over her head... but Rouge knew   
exactly what this machine was. What is was for.

Now all she needed was to find him.

Popping out the portadisk, now loaded with information that she   
was sure would come to good use later, she logged off the   
terminal and walked away. Carefully avoiding the multitude of   
robots and keeping out of the range of its security cameras,   
Rouge made her way through the base. Passing hallways, storage   
rooms, and bunkers of all kinds, she investigated every nook and   
cranny.

It was in a rather inconspicuous room filled with half-built   
machines and battered boxed of parts that she found the capsule.   
With a sly grin, she tugged off the heavy canvas cover that hid   
it.

She had disobeyed her employer, the president, and risked   
suspicion from her target... but it was all justified.

Rouge had just found the payoff.

**- - lament - -**  
Fanfic by Jixie 2005  
Sonic © SEGA

The capsule was easy enough to open. How to awaken its contents,   
she wasn't quite sure. Rouge was puzzling over it when a loud   
crash interrupted.

She turned around in time to come face-to-face with an E series   
robot, it's weapon aimed right at her. Doing a quick double-   
take, she realized that it wasn't aiming at her but at the   
capsule behind her.

"Must eliminate all Eggman robots!" the robot announced. Rouge  
stood her ground, unsure if it would wait for her to move... or  
if it'd just shoot through her. She didn't get a chance to find  
out.

The Shadow android tackled her, putting them both out of the   
robots aim. It started shooting wildly and Shadow dodged the   
fire, dragging Rouge along with him. He ducked behind the capsule   
and dropped her ungraciously.

"Stay here."

It was hard to stay put. Not wanting to miss any of the action,   
she peered out from behind the capsule and watched. At least she   
didn't have to figure out how to turn the Shadow android on.

He darted and wove, avoiding each shot. The robot was determined,   
however, and did not let up. Rouge hadn't noticed it at first,   
but now she saw that it was covered in a thick film of dust. It   
must have been sitting for quite a while.

Shadow looked as if he was about the charge the robot, and the E   
robot raised its arms to attack. "Must eliminate all Eggman   
robots!" it barked again. Suddenly things clicked into place and  
Rouge knew she had to stop them.

Jumping out from behind the capsule, she threw herself into the   
middle of the fray. The two stopped hesitantly. She dared either   
of them to ignore her. "Quit this nonsense."

"Bat-mobian. Warning: you will be shot if you continue to stand  
in the way," the robot intoned.

"That thing is going to kill us," Shadow said blandly.

"No one is going to kill anyone." Turning to face to robot, she  
looked it up and down. "Do you have a name?"

"Introduction: model E-123 Omega, serial number BADNIK00538725."

"I'm Rouge," she offered. "What is your purpose?"

"Objective: to protect warehouse room 32-B from all intruders."

"Then why are you trying to kill him, and not me?"

The E-123 raised its weapon, then lowered it. If it was possible   
for a robot to look confused, this one did. "Must eliminate all  
Eggman robots," it repeated weakly.

Rouge furrowed her brows in confusion. There was no reason   
Robotnik would build a robot that would destroy his other   
creations. Then again, she knew the robots had some degree of   
free will. Was it possible this one had turned against his   
creator, as some of the other 'defective' E models had in the   
past?

"Why do you want to destroy Eggmans other projects?" she asked.

The E-123 seemed reluctant to reply. "Rouge," it addressed her,  
"Statement: E-123 Omega, serial number BADNIK00538725, has  
been abandoned in warehouse room 32-B for 5,043 hours, 7.3 minuets.  
Eggman has forgotten it. New objective: destroy all Eggmans  
robots for this negligence."

Grinning wildly, she glanced from Shadow to E-123. "Well, you can  
leave him alone then. Shadow was created by Dr. Gerald Robotnik,  
'Eggmans' grandfather. Right Shadow?"

The hedgehog stared at her blankly. "Who?"

"Never mind," she said quickly. "See, we want to 'eliminate  
Eggmans robots' also. You can help us E-123."

"We do?" asked Shadow.

"Rouge. Statement: Omega is preferred."

Nodding, she turned her attention back to Shadow. "I take it this  
means you can't remember anything." If she was lucky, Robotnik  
hadn't programmed any crazy objectives or homicidal tendencies  
into Shadow either.

"Yes. How do you know my name?"

"I knew you before the accident," she explained. Before he could  
ask what accident, she grabbed his hand and the E-123s. "Shadow,  
Omega. We're all looking for Robotnik. We should look for him  
together!"

"Agreement: it will be faster to work together."

"Whatever, lady."

It was hard to contain her excitement. "Aw yeah, baby! This makes  
us a TEAM!"

The two stared at her in disbelief. Rouge shrugged it off; if   
these two were going to be such killjoys, she'd just have to make   
up for the both of them.

* * *

They had been hunting down Robotnik for several days, with no   
signs of the crazy doctor. Rouge had taken a liking to Omega, the   
robot was almost child-like in its innocence and honesty. Shadow   
showed no signs of memory or deranged programming, but his   
attitude was intact, exactly as Rouge knew him... without any   
mentions of the dearly departed Maria. _That_ was a relief.

Rouge almost danced when they finally cleared out of the lost   
jungle. She was never really the 'woodsy' type, and it was nice   
to be headed back towards civilization. She was day dreaming   
about doing a little 'gem shopping' when Shadow suddenly stopped.

"Hey," he said, looking at something off in the distance.

Her good mood was dashed when she saw who was heading towards   
them. It was Sonic and his two-tailed tagalong... and that   
echidna. They seemed to be in a hurry.

"That hedgehog," Shadow was starting to sound a little anxious,  
"he looks..."

"Yea yea, he's your stinking long lost twin."

"I have a brother?"

Rouge slapped her face. "No, I was just kidding. Let's get out of  
here before they see us."

The trio changed course and tried to avoid being spotted, but it   
was too late. Racing ahead of his friends, Sonic approached them,   
grinning like a maniac.

"HEY! Talk about being stubborn and full of surprises- if it   
isn't the black hedgehog himself!"

Shadow fixed Sonic with one of his infamous blank stares. It   
changed into a look of apprehension when Sonic stepped closer, as   
if he was about to give him a pat on the shoulder or something   
like it. Rouge stepped between the two, just in time for Tails   
and Knuckles to catch up.

"Is it really...?"

"Sonic! How--"

"Long time, no see boys!" Rouge cut them off. If Sonic and crew  
were running around like this, they were probably hunting for  
Robotnik. In that case, she didn't want them getting in the way.  
"Too bad you came all this way for nothing. We'll take it from  
here!"

"What?" Knuckles sputtered. "What are you talking about, thief?"

Omega stepped forward, raising its weapon. "Objective: sensors  
locked on Eggman. Warning: non-complaint intruders will be  
destroyed!"

Sonic folded his arms across his chest, tapping his foot in   
irritation. "Duh. We haven't had much luck finding him. No point  
in fighting, we have a date with Eggman too."

"Well then, it'll be a date to -die- for." Shadow had the barest  
hint of a smirk on his face. Rouge stared at him in surprise,  
either he was joking or he'd just delivered one of the hokiest  
lines she'd ever heard.

"Hey!" Sonic countered, determined to top Shadow off with  
stupidity. "That's MY line!"

* * *

As irritating as it was, Rouge was not surprised when the banter   
degenerated into a fist-fight -- or rather, a quill fight. She   
and Tails were smart enough not to get involved and Omega stayed   
out of it at Rouges order.

In honesty, Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow were all just about   
equally matched. With the advantage of greater numbers on their   
side, Sonic and Knuckles should have won the fight. They might   
have, had they actually cooperated. Their inability to work well   
together meant that the display of male bravado ended in a draw.

This was fine by Rouge, although the boys seemed unhappy about   
it.

After a while they reluctantly agreed that all six of them   
searching would yield better results. Planning out territories   
so they wouldn't cover the same ground twice... something they'd   
already inadvertently done... they headed off in opposite   
directions. Rouge was hoping they wouldn't meet up again.

* * *

The Egg Emperor had been a real pain to defeat, and Rouge was   
feeling frustrated with the whole situation. She knew that Sonic   
and his dumb friends- including that obnoxious echidna- and some   
looser detective group were also looking for Robotnik, and that   
none of them were any closer to when they'd started.

Needing a distraction, she started checking out the base. No   
matter where you were there was always treasure to be found, and   
Rouge was just the person to find it. It was Doctor Robotniks   
personal flagship, surely there were things lying about that   
would provide some interest (and if she was lucky, cash).

Shadow found the idea dreadfully boring, and left to hang around   
for them out on the deck. Omega stayed with Rouge, following her   
like a big robotic puppy dog. She skipped past the areas they had   
fought in; they'd already been pilfered of anything valuable.   
She and Omega meandered around for a while, digging through   
storage rooms, hacking computer, and blowing up any robots they   
came across.

...and then she stumbled into the room.

"How did I miss this?"

Nothing in Robotniks notes or plans had hinted at it. The Shadow   
android design was so complicated that it seemed impossible to   
mass produce. She didn't understand, as easy as Robotniks   
computer had been to hack, how she'd missed any reference to   
these androids.

"_How_ could he do _this_?"

There were hundreds of capsules. They were lined from one wall to   
the other, each of them identical. Rouge groaned with   
frustration; this was... unbelievable.

She'd known that Robotnik designed and built an android, one that   
perfectly replicated his Grandfathers creation. She'd known that   
Shadow could never have survived the fall to Earth, that the   
current hedgehog must be a machine. She just hadn't known that   
Robotnik made _more than one_.

A _lot_ more.

Peering into one of the capsules, she shook with disgust. What   
were they going to do? It was bad enough Shadow was an android,   
how would he react to learning he was one of hundreds? Hadn't   
Robotnik ever heard of 'too much of a good thing'?

"Damn you, Eggman!" she snarled, kicking the capsule.

Omega watched her from the doorway. Rearing up, it locked its   
firing mechanism onto the nearest capsule.

"Must eliminate all Eggman robots. Prepare to destroy immediate  
area!"

"Omega..." The robot watched her, waiting patiently for her to  
move out of the way. Rouge headed for the door, pausing in front  
of the E-123. "I... haven't told anyone, but Shadow is a robot.  
Please don't tell him. And..." No, she was only making things  
worse. "Never mind. I'm sorry I said anything. Blow this mess up,  
Omega, and lets get the hell out of here."

She ducked under Omegas arm and strolled out of the room. Its   
head turned to see her leave. "Rouge. Observation: cloning   
requires an original to create the copy. Hypothesis: the Shadow   
outside is the original these clones are based off of."

"They're robots," Rouge corrected sharply, and instantly   
regretted using such a harsh tone. She glanced over her shoulder   
at Omega. "I'm sorry. The real Shadow is dead."

* * *

She wished she could say it was magical. That it happened under   
the star filled sky while they were covered in a blanket of cool   
spring air and moonlight, a scene from a young girls romance   
fantasy.

It happened nothing like that.

Rouge left Omega to wreak destruction on Robotniks base and went   
outside where Shadow was milling about. "That was a huge waste of  
time," she said, throwing her hands in the air. "I might as well  
go look for the Master Emerald, since that irritating echidna is  
here."

Shadow snorted and gave her a bemused look. "Some things never  
change, do they?"

Unable to stop the blush, Rouge looked away. "Emeralds are a   
girls best friend," she muttered, trying steer the topic away  
from Knuckles.

Her mind drifted back to the androids, and Shadow. Was it   
possible Omega knew something she didn't? After all, he'd been   
locked in a separate room with this Shadow. It made sense that   
this one was a prototype of some sort, but she almost wanted to   
believe that...

...that it was really Shadow, flesh and blood.

In retrospect, she wasn't quite sure what motivated her to act.   
It was some twisted determination to find out if he was a machine   
or not. She reached out and grabbed him. After all, a realistic   
android could only be _so_ realistic.

Shadow had the decency to look surprised, but made no attempt to   
stop her. It didn't take long for the unexpected groping to   
become more intense, and she found herself exploring with her   
hands, touching...

And then they were on the ground. Rouges bodysuit came off with   
only a little bit of hassle. No moon, no stars. Only the hot sun   
and the wind, and Eggmans flying base underneath.

Physically it was a pleasant experience. Shadow was agile and   
well equipped and Rouges body reacted in all the right ways. He   
fucked like he fought, with a grim and quiet determination. She   
half expected him to call out Marias name, but when it was time   
all she got was a primordial grunt. Rouge had wanted something   
special-- this was empty sex, insensate and unfeeling.

She was surprised how much that hurt.

* * *

Two nights later, Rouge got as close to her starlight fantasy as   
she could have hoped. About halfway through the dream Shadow   
turned out to be Knuckles, and somehow that made it... even   
better...

A blood-chilling scream woke her abruptly. She sat up, heart   
racing, the dream all but forgotten. "_Chaos!_" she cursed, jumping  
to her feet. "What _happened_?"

After discerning they were not under attack, she glanced at her   
teammates. Omega was standing alert while Shadow lay prone, eyes   
wide and slightly glazed. She approached carefully.

"Shadow..."

On hearing his name, the hedgehog sat up, somewhat uneasily.   
"Where am I?" he asked, bewildered.

"We're just outside of Westopolis. What happened?"

The question was met with a blank stare. "I... I don't know.   
What...?" he shook his head, as if trying to clear it.

Rouge sat down beside Shadow. She wanted to hug him, to console   
him _somehow_, but when she reached out he pulled away from her  
touch. "Shadow," trying to sound frightened as possible, "hold  
me."

He relented, and she took advantage of it. Hoping that any   
contact would provide some comfort, she rested her head under his   
chin and listened to the unnaturally fast heartbeat.

Although he couldn't remember anything from the past, it was   
haunting Shadows nightmares. Rouge decided that could only mean   
one thing. Omega was right.

Android or not, he didn't have any feelings for her. Shadow only   
cared for two people... himself, and a young human girl who died   
tragically.

"You're crying," he observed.

"They're happy tears," she lied.

Fin


End file.
